Flight attendant loses job over Facebook post

In this March 8, 2011, photo, a Cathay Pacific plane takes off at the Hong Kong Airport in Hong Kong. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

The Associated Press
Published Tuesday, December 4, 2012 5:58AM EST

BANGKOK, Thailand -- A Cathay Pacific flight attendant is out of a job after writing on her Facebook page that she wanted to throw coffee in a passenger's face because she happened to be the daughter of someone she dislikes intensely: ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The flight attendant caused a stir in the Thai online communities last week for posting hostile comments about Thaksin's youngest daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra. She also posted a picture of Paetongtarn's seating number on a Bangkok-to-Hong Kong flight she worked on Nov. 25.

Hong Kong-based Cathay Pacific said Monday on its Thailand Facebook page that the posting of a passenger's personal information was unauthorized and against the airline's privacy rules. It said, without elaborating, that the flight attendant is "no longer an employee."

The flight attendant said in her post that she called her personal adviser to ask "if it was all right to throw something on (Paetongtarn) on this flight."

"Paetongtarn, I didn't throw coffee in her face today but she had no clue that I will keep on fighting until your clan can no longer live like fleas on the Thai soil," she wrote.

Cathay Pacific did not release the name of the flight attendant, whose Facebook handle is Honey Lochanachai. The flight attendant said Monday on Facebook that she resigned in order to take responsibility.

A message seeking comment from the Shinawatra family was not immediately returned Tuesday.

Thaksin, a divisive figure in Thai politics, was ousted in a 2006 coup and lives in self-imposed exile following a 2008 corruption conviction.

His sister Yingluck has been prime minister since last year, and her opponents say she is Thaksin's proxy. She recently survived a no-confidence vote in parliament and protests organized by Thaksin's opponents.